Getting over the reluctance, one word at a time.

Author: sayhitotam

It has been forever. The ‘I almost couldn’t remember my password’ kind of forever. I still can’t believe I am actually back here. But the great thing about no expectations is that, there is no pressure to start writing here again- which is why I guess i’m back. I don’t know what tomorrow will bring. I may not be back here again. But i’m here now so – yay!

The thing about unexpected appearances is that I have no idea what to write about right now. If you’re wondering where this post is going then, this my friend is what is know as ‘rambling’. It’s quite similar to ambling- the art of aimlessly strolling. Just in writing form. And without the pleasant views that come along with a good amble. Anyway, i’m just rambling here, trying to fill up this page with enough words to qualify as a blog post. Since this is such an aimless post anyway, may I just toss out some of the thought that just popped into my mind about future blogpost possibilities? Ok, here goes-

I have been doing a little bit of travelling and have quite a few gorgeous pictures to show for it. I think i’ll try my hand at travel writing and put down a few of those posts. If i’m lucky (and persistent enough) this may just turn into a travel blog- ha! A girl can dream! But until then, this will just be my personal rambling space

I also attended my best friend’s wedding recently and my maid of honour duties demanded that I give a speech. Now you know how difficult I find the task of writing anything more than a couple of sentences on an advertisement. But my best friend asked me to do it, and of course I wouldn’t say know. I made the task a priority- which just meant that instead of hastily putting together a speech an hour before the wedding, I generously did it the night before. But, it did take me the WHOLE night ( no beauty sleep for this brides maid!) and I managed to fill another screen like this one with a lot of rambling and enough laughter cues to pass off as a successful toast. And since I do like to make the most of my writing, I think i’ll post that speech here too. Two birds, one stone and all that jazz.

And finally, I’m thinking of doing a few creative writing posts just to give those grey cells something to get worked up about. I realised that there is a serious lag between my thought and action process. Basically, I’m all bark, no bite.So yes, I will try and chew out a few more posts, a little more often that once or twice a year.

Phew, that went well. I actually managed to get more than a few sentences out, and it feels good!Reluctant Writer:1 Dry writing Spell: 0.

Note: I’ve just signed up for Prompt, an experimental email service that sends you a topic every day, and you reply to it. The next day, everyone’s responses are mailed back to you. In an effort to revive my daily writing habit (Wait, did I say revive? I meant start.) I will be posting some of my prompt replies here. Happy reading!

credits: Sergio Alves Santos for Upsplash

What qualifies as my ‘first’ time drinking? Is it that time at 14, when I accepted a bottle of beer at a (much) older friend’s party, trying to act all cool, like this was something I did every night of week. Or all those times 12-year-old me secretly took hasty sips out of the glasses of Whisky that I was bringing out to serve the guest in our living room. Or was it when my grandfather, while nursing his evening drink, would dip his fingers in the glass and give a taste to his 1 ½ year old grand child?

I guess all of them qualify as firsts. The first time that toddler me realised that the tempting amber liquid that was forbidden, was in fact not my cup of tea. The first time I realised that whiskey is not a spirit your drink with your taste buds, but with a kind of philosophical, almost cynical knowledge that only comes with age. And the first time I paid the price for a terrific night with a terrible morning.

Today is the birthday of one of my favourite people in the galaxy. My Doodles with the noodles like a poodle’s (doodles, noodles,poodles, doodles – sung to the tune of Mr.Marley’s Lion in Zion). Right now she’s an ocean away, basking in some Bangkok sunshine and hopefully embracing 24 with a boatload of new experiences (eating a scorpion or two, maybe?) And while I miss her to bits, I’m thrilled she get to spend her birthday in such a fabulous way.

Okay, so on the presents front, I think I’ve pretty much nailed this year’s gift :D. But now that we have a blog and all (even if it’s covered in virtual cobwebs at this point), the pact was that no birthday shall pass without a written tribute to the birthday girl. So this year, I’m putting down a list of 24 reasons why we should celebrate 20th April as National Andy Day.

Because she is an old lady trapped in a young woman’s body, which means that you can expect crochet, cupcakes and the best advice anytime you need it.

Because while she is made exclusively of bones herself, she does give the best bone-crushing hugs, this side of the equator.

Because she puts so much heart and soul into a job she doesn’t like. Image what’d she’d do with one she loves.

Because she does the boogie-woogie with as much panache as she does the jive.

I’m thankful to have seen another year on this planet. While the earth does its thing and begins it’s journey around the sun once again, here are a few things I plan to do, a couple of journeys I plan to take:

Be kind. Kinder, even.

Focus on single tasking.

Write more. And write with more love.

Read at least 52 books.

Become a whiskey drinker. Or at least learn to appreciate the drink.

Have more conversations. The kind where you forget to check your phone.

Have difficult conversations.

Spend more time ‘being’ with family rather than just being in the same room.

I recently developed a serious obsession with Korean Dramas. These Drama’s and I have a kind of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ relationship. I come across a serial, fall deep into the rabbit hole that is K- rom-coms, and when I finally look up from the screen, a week has gone by. Actually, it’s not my first encounter with them; I watched my first drama called ‘The Coffee Prince’ back in college on the recommendation of a North Eastern friend. (I think The NE operates on another tangent all together. While the rest of the country still obnoxiously treats them like outsiders, they have coolly left us to our petty mindedness and jump headfirst into the South East Asian culture, not caring two hoots about us. Anyways, back to the topic) So the ‘Coffee Prince’ was partly amusing, partly annoying and completely un-ignorable. The story was girl-pretending-to-be-boy meets boy. Boy falls for girl-pretending-to-be-boy despite his discomfort and best efforts not too. Boy discovers that g-p-t-b-b is actually girl. Happy ending. Ta-da! (I later learnt that this particular drama was quite a path breaker in Korea for being one of the first serials with gay references in the story-line)

It’s a plot line that has been hashed and rehashed numerous times since Shakespeare first wrote it. And I would have dusted my hands off K-dramas for good, except for one thing. The culture.

Those dramas were a glimpse into such a strange and fascinating world that is South East Asia. The life portrayed had traces of American culture that the whole world tries to emulate. But it had this whole other side that I just couldn’t get enough off. There were times where I zoned off from what the main characters were doing just to check out what the extras were up to in the scene.

So after recently popping out of another one of those k-drama rabbit holes, and 5 series later, I’d like to share with the web what I’ve learnt about Korean culture from these dramas:

A bowl of noodles is not just a meal, it’s a way of life.

That beauty is not the privilege of women alone. (Have you seen those beautiful South Korean boys?)

Working hard is such an important part of that culture.

That teenage girlS will be teenage girls, no matter which culture they belong to.

That none of the Korean actresses and actors know how to kiss on screen. (The ‘lips barely touching’ moments that passes for a scandalous kiss scenes makes Bollywood’s ‘touching flowers’ look like they are French kissing!)

And in addition to the above, people of the opposite sex hugging is equivalent to kissing, minus the lip action. And that too is scandalous. They show these hug scenes repeatedly, in fast succession, to highlight how momentous they are. (Like the slap scenes in Hindi soaps)

Family is everything. And no matter how outrageous the request, if family asks, it will be done. (And the requests are always outrageous)

A man carrying a woman piggyback is perfectly normal and acceptable behaviour, even courteous or romantic in some cases. (For some reason, I found this quirk the strangest, most difficult to reckon with .)

The names… oh the names! I’ve still not figured out the politics of names here. Which is the last name, which is the first, what’s formal, what’s not… and so on.

There is so much more that I could talk about. Like the over cute-ification of everything. Have you seen their lunch boxes – out here food is art. Or the way no one in that country can take a picture without flashing the peace sign. Ever. There are lots of other gems like this. But my list stops here.

It’s not that I can’t go on. I’ts just that I have another episode to catch.

Who doesn’t get sweet cravings after meals. That yearning for a little sweet something to tickle those taste buds. In fact, my sweet tooth is so bad that I often finish meals with a loud proclamation of “I’m so full!” and then find myself reaching for a dessert spoon and waiting expectantly for someone to put something sweet in front of my face. As a child, I would proclaim to all who would listen that I had two stomachs – one for food and the other for desserts. Yes, I did pass biology, eventually.

So, desserts. The thing about desserts is that I’m not really a Martha Stewart in the kitchen. And I’m not really a Martha Stewart body-wise too (Did you know the Ms. Stewart was once a model! She can make a cake and eat it too. Ha!) But no, this doesn’t really stop me from eating dessert – nothing really does. It just means that I’m going to try healthier desert options. So Sugarfree asked us to try out a recipe by substituting sugar with Sugarfree natura. And this is the recipe I chose. – the easy banana frozen milkshake. It’s so easy, that my mom doesn’t wince when I come into the kitchen to make it. Now that’s something!

Recipe:

2 bananas (overripe bananas will also do)

1/2 a cup of cold milk

2 cubes of Sugarfree Natura

2 crushed ice cubes

Method:

Put it all into a mixer/blender and blend it together for 40 seconds. And TA-DA! You’re done. I told you it was easy!

My favourite way of having it is pouring it into a glass and freezing the milkshake for ½ an hour so that the mixture become almost icecream like.

It’s delicious and healthy. You will love it. Your friends will love it. Other people’s friends will love it.